Spearhead
A speargun toting hero who fights evil on land and in the sea. Created in May 2013, during a thread asking "Why doesn't Hawkeye use a speargun that shoots spearheads?" Later revised during June to be less of a Batman ripoff. Origin Lance Pike and Alex Carter were fast friends from childhood, and as adults they are co-owners of Pike and Carter's Dives and Charters, a commercial boat for hire company operating out of Bay City, a good sized American city on the Eastern coast. Pike and Carter specialize in salvage and private transportation services, though if you need a boat for hire for any other (legal) purpose, they're willing and able to help. The story of Spearhead begins one day when goons of the local mob boss Victor "Vic" Piccalo come to their business to shake them down for 'protection money'. Stone-faced through the conversation, it's clear that neither of them found the idea of giving these criminals money appealing, but the final straw is when one of the goons suggests that as an 'alternative', the boys could help the mob smuggle heroin into the city. Enraged, Alex leaps forward and punches out one of the mobsters. The other reaches for his pistol, but Lance quickly shoots it out of his hand with his speargun, which happened to be sitting on the desk. They threw the goons out into the street in a humiliating manner, and loudly tell them never to return. When Piccalo hears about this insult, he resolves to take care of the matter "personally". Meanwhile, Lance and Alex meet with Officer Michael Murphy of the BCPD, who tells them that while he certainly sympathizes with their situation, his hands are tied and that the police department will never allow for an officer to stand a full-time stakeout based simply on an altercation that could have been the end of the matter, as the department's resources are already stretched thin. However he encourages Pike and Carter to call the station immediately if they suspect any sort of funny business. That night, the two decide to stay late, to protect their business if need be. As it turns out, their hunch is correct, as Vic Piccalo and several of his goons arrive and set fire to the building. Lance quickly grabs the phone, calls the police, and tells them that criminals are setting fire to their business. A shootout ensues, and Alex is fatally shot by Vic. Lance flees, leaping into the boat and taking it out into the bay. As he mourns his old friend, he gazes at his wetsuit and speargun, lying in the boat, and a resolve forms in his heart. Dressed in the wetsuit and a mask and wielding his speargun, Lance shadows the goons back to their base of operations. He manages to fight his way through the goons, knocking them unconscious or otherwise incapacitating them as he does, reasoning to himself that while they are wicked men, it's up to the justice system to judge them, and that he is there for Piccalo alone. Finally facing off against his friend's killer, Lance comes out victorious, shooting the mobster with a spear through his hand that holds him fast against the corner of the room. Struggling to remove the weapon from his hand, the fearful Piccalo asks the masked man: "Who are you?" Lance replies, "I'm the SPEARHEAD that will pin you to the wall." He takes aim at the whimpering mob boss... and lowers his weapon. He's not a murderer. Instead, he punches Piccalo out. He then notices a case lying on the table. Opening it, he smiles grimly, then calls the police, and leaves. The next day, Lance gives his account of the death of Alex Carter to Officer Murphy at the station. Murphy mentions that the same night, Piccalo and his goons were arrested by police after an anonymous tip led them to a warehouse full of knocked out mobsters and an attache case full of heroin, covered in the mob boss' fingerprints. The mobsters all claim a maniac calling himself 'Spearhead' attacked them. Lance says somewhat lightheartedly that this 'Spearhead' sounds like a good Samaritan, but Murphy says that he's a vigilante and no better than the mobsters. Lance pledges to testify regarding Carter's death, and leaves the station. On the way home, Lance decides to burn the wetsuit and other gear he used that night, so no connection can be made between him and 'Spearhead'. However he overhears several people in the neighborhood praising the actions of Spearhead and realizes he's done some good for the community. He decides to continue to operate as Spearhead in secret. He discovers that the fire department responded quickly and that his business was saved in the end, though some repairs will need to be done. A week later, while looking at the "Pike and Carter's" sign and wondering what to do about it, his name is called out behind him. Turning to look, he sees Carrie, the younger sister of Alex. She's come to Bay City to handle Alex's funeral arrangements, and reveals that as Alex's only living relative, she is his heir now owns half of the charter boat business. As time goes by, Lance discovers Carrie is very adept at handling the business end of the company, bringing in more business than he and Alex used to in a short amount of time. He also muses that she has grown up to be a very beautiful young lady, but also that for her own protection, he must keep his identity as Spearhead secret from her as well. Abilities Skilled in the use of a speargun and in hand-to-hand combat. He is an able swimmer and diver, and can hold his breath for up to five minutes. Due to extensive training, he can swim for long distances without tiring out. He wields different types of trick spears in combat, from spearheads that burst to deploy nets, to spears which expand into multiple projectiles in the air. Writefaggotry Dr. Archer stroked his beard and grinned in the dark warehouse. "Hurry up and get that tri-plutonium core loaded, you bumbling fools! Once I place it into my Death Arrow, we will truly be unstoppable!" "Unlikely, Doctor!" Just then, a spearhead whipped through the warehouse, bursting in the air and entangling the goons in a heavy net. The voice came from the shadows. Doctor Archer whirled around. "I was expecting you, LUNKhead. A pity you won't be able to see my plan come to its glorious fruition." The lights come on, and a dozen more goons appear from behind the crates and machinery in the room, many of them wielding crossbows. The doctor himself hefted his own bow. "You won't get a chance to either, Doctor Arrow, once I -pin you to the wall-!" The Doctor fired, but the wetsuit-clad hero leapt from the box on which he stood, the deadly arrow narrowly missing him as he flipped through the air. Spearhead fired his spearhead-gun at the evil doctor. The spearhead unhinged itself in midair, breaking into four smaller spearheads, which caught the villain's clothes and stapled him back against a crate. "Get him, you fools!" the doctor cried. Spearhead quickly loaded a new cartridge and fired the gun once again, into the air. The launched spearhead struck the ceiling, and with a buzz, all the lights in the room went out, dropping the warehouse into pitch blackness. "Where did he go?!" came the cry. Suddenly, a small greenish glow could be seen in the darkness: Spearhead's night vision SCUBA goggles. Then there was only the menacing whipping hiss of the speargun. "Find him, you idiots!" Doctor Archer cried out as he tore himself free from the crate with his abnormal strength. But it was already too late for his plan: a soft splash could be heard from outside. The doctor pulled a remote from his pocket and pressed the button. Light from his flying fortress, the Black Bow, flooded the room through a wide window. Spearhead had already left, and taken the core with him. Coalition Career At some point during or after the late 1940s, Spearhead was scouted for the Justice Coalition, by this time he had already married Carrie and had a daughter. During the early 1970s, he rescued a young lad from a mad scientist's experiments, these experiments resulted in the lad gaining tactile hydrokinesis and taking on the name "Harpoonist" who Spearhead decides to take under his wing to get the boy on the right path. Despite initially disliking the lad's reliance on his powers, he ended up becoming like a father to him and then twice over when Harpoonist grew up and married Spearhead's daughter. Sometime during the late 1980s Diving Belle, Spearhead's granddaughter, was born. By this time Spearhead was getting old, but felt at ease knowing he could retire in peace with Harpoonist continuing on... until tragedy struck. While Harpoonist was defending a city from some kind of giant monster he disappeared in a massive blast of energy, the city was saved and the monster ever made it to shore, but Harpoonist was never found. Spearhead decided it was up to him to train Belle in hopes that she'd be able to use his teachings to defend herself from any harm. He wants her to value skill and technique as highly as he did since she only inherited a weaker version of her father's powers. Coming out of Retirement After Belle surprised him by suddenly deciding to go and audition for the Justice Coalition, and then not come home after being accepted, he decides it's time to go fetch his granddaughter. Just as his pursuit of her across the ocean began he encountered Jellybro, a young lad who was drifting about aimlessly in a daze after being mutated into some kind of jellyfish hybrid. Spearhead has to return to shore to get the lad the help he needs, but Leviathan, a creature of the deep (on the small side) is causing trouble in town and no one has stopped her yet... so Spearhead PINS HER TO THE WALL and tells her to knock that shit off since he's too old to be doing this. Both of these events significantly delayed Spearhead catching up with Belle and by now she's all the way on the other side of the ocean around the Great Barrier Reef. By the time Spearhead gets there, Belle, Caliber, and Reef have been fighting a sharktopus for days, unable to beat it because their teamwork sucks. Spearhead acts as a coordinator to get the youngsters to stop screwing around and the sharktopus is defeated. Belle's new friends are impressed by Spearhead and follow them back home hoping to join the Coalition themselves. Back home Jellybro has regained his sense of self and Leviathan now wishes to learn from Spearhead as well. Spearhead decides to train this new group of supers so that he'll know for certain that his granddaughter will be in good hands with people that are dependable and that she'll learn how to work in a team. He acts as the mentor, trainer, and overseer to the Aqua Coalition (of Super Friends). Gallery IMG_1248.PNG|Shouting his catch-phrase. 1369619942370.png 1376790499391.png Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Hero